Diani Forest (6399)
Kenya, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2004
National site name: Diani Forest
Central coordinates: Latitude: -4.3167, Longitude: 39.5500
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 5 to 20
Area of KBA (km2): 4.49193
Protected area coverage (%): 1.39
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: This site consists of remnant deciduous coral rag forest (dominated by Combretum schumannii) along a 12-km strip of Diani Beach, near Ukunda on the south Kenya coast. The formerly continuous forest has been cleared and fragmented, so that a set of small patches, in various degrees of intactness, now remains. Kaya Ukunda (a National Monument gazetted in 1992) has been left isolated as a 20 ha fragment slightly inland from the others, behind the Two Fishes Hotel. Twenty-one hotels, among other developments, occupy the Diani strip, and a busy road runs through the centre of some of the forest patches. Kaya Diani itself, which lies between Mworoni and Leisure Lodge Hotel, is not within this IBA.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas) KBA identified in the process of compiling the 2003 CEPF Ecosystem Profile of the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests Hotspot (which was later [in 2005] split into two Hotspots, the East Afromontane and the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa). Species taxonomy and threat category was based on IUCN Red List 2002.
Additional biodiversity: See Box for key species. Zoothera guttata, an intra-African migrant, was seen regularly here in the 1980s. Although there are no recent records, Diani may still be an important ‘stepping stone’ forest for this species. The current status of the other globally threatened species is similarly uncertain. At least 44 other forest-dependent species are recorded, most of them characteristic of East African coastal forests. Tauraco fischeri is also a restricted-range species. Regionally threatened species include Campethera mombassica, Phyllastrephus debilis, P. fischeri, Erythrocercus holochlorus, Stephanoaetus coronatus, Pitta angolensis, and Anthreptes neglectus. Non-bird biodiversity: Diani was originally one of the most diverse areas of forest along the Kenya coast with a rich coral rag flora. The threatened mammal Rhynchocyon petersi (EN) occurs, but its current status is unknown. Diani supports an unusually high density of the primate Colobus angolensis, and is an important site for the restricted subspecies palliatus.
Habitats
Land use: forestry | tourism/recreation | urban/industrial/transport
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 100 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Diani is a sad example of the destructive effects of uncontrolled tourist development. Only small forest patches are now left, and rampant cutting of Combretum schumannii for tourist carvings has degraded much of what remains. Apart from the isolated Kaya Ukunda, the forest remnants are now contained on private land. Though many owners have destroyed their forest or permitted it to be degraded, others (notably the hotels Robinson Club Baobab and Nomads) have protected their holdings. The remaining forest, although fragmented, is still very valuable for biodiversity conservation. Recently, road kills of colobus have focused local attention on the plight of this species and the forest as a whole, resulting in the registration of a local environmental group: Wakuluzu, Friends of the Colobus Trust. Wakuluzu’s concern covers Diani in particular and other South Coast forests with colobus in general. At Diani, work to restore the habitat and the connections between forest patches is urgently needed. Local recognition of the value of the forests, for tourism as well as for biodiversity conservation, may help to bring this about.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Marine & freshwater aquaculture | Subsistence/artisinal aquaculture | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Gathering terrestrial plants | Unintentional effects (species being assessed is not the target) | Ongoing |
| Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases | Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases | Named species | Ongoing |
| Pollution | Domestic & urban waste water | Sewage | Ongoing |
| Pollution | Excess energy | Noise pollution | Ongoing |
| Residential & commercial development | Housing & urban areas | Ongoing | |
| Residential & commercial development | Tourism & recreation areas | Ongoing | |
| Energy production & mining | Mining & quarrying | Ongoing | |
| Transportation & service corridors | Roads & railroads | Ongoing | |
| Human intrusions & disturbance | Recreational activities | Ongoing | |
| Natural system modifications | Other ecosystem modifications | Ongoing | |
| Pollution | Garbage & solid waste | Ongoing | |
| Climate change & severe weather | Droughts | Only in the future |
Additional information
References: Bennun and Njoroge (1996), Irvine and Irvine (1970, 1977a,b, 1988, 1991), Kahumbu and Eley (1997), Mlingwa et al. (2000), Ng’weno (1980), Robertson and Luke (1993), Waiyaki and Bennun (2000).